Bring peace in Assam before targeting me: Mamata tells Centre

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday asked the Congress-led UPA government to bring peace in Assam instead of criticising her government for police firing which claimed a life in Nadia district.

"Since July, 110 people have been killed in Assam. Those leaders who have been continuously criticising us for the killing of just one person, that too in a factional feud, why are they silent on Assam," Banerjee, the Trinamool Congress supremo, told mediapersons at the state secretariat Writers' Buildings in Kolkata.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Image courtesy PIB

"Whatever happened in Nadia is unfortunate and we have not only compensated the victim's family but also ordered a magisterial inquiry into the incident. But what has the central government done for Assam," she asked.

A man was killed and nine people were injured in Tehatta subdivision in Nadia district, around 150 km from Kolkata on 14 November, following a mob-police clash over a land dispute.

Reiterating that the violence in Assam was affecting West Bengal with people from the northeast taking refuge in her state, Banerjee asked the Centre to make efforts to restore peace and order there.

"We have a border with Assam, and since the violence erupted, several thousand people have taken refuge here. They are our guests and it is our duty to take care of them. But then, the central government must also make efforts to restore peace in Assam so that the effects do not spill over to Bengal," she added.

A fresh wave of violence broke out on 10 November in Kokrajhar, which is under Bodoland Territorial Area Districts (BTAD), following a lull of about three months. The violence in July-August in BTAD and Dhubri between Bodos and Muslims claimed 90 lives and rendered 4.8 lakh people homeless.